StevenDDeacon National Interests of the United States of Americahttps://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com
Protecting the United States of America's legacy as stated in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States of America, our Bill of Rights, and the correspondence of our Founding FathersTue, 10 Apr 2018 01:03:59 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/64eb6c26b49b70d467c7b470e01c8fec?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngStevenDDeacon National Interests of the United States of Americahttps://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com
NSA Violates 4th and 14th Amendmentshttps://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/nsa-violates-4th-and-14th-amendments/
https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/nsa-violates-4th-and-14th-amendments/#respondSat, 22 Jun 2013 18:59:09 +0000http://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/?p=930NSA Director Keith Alexander lied to the Congressional House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI). Why?

The National Security Agency has acknowledged in a new classified briefing that it does not need court authorization to listen to domestic phone calls, a participant in the briefing said.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat, disclosed on Thursday that during a secret briefing to members of Congress, he was told that the contents of a phone call could be accessed “simply based on an analyst deciding that.”

If the NSA wants “to listen to the phone,” an analyst’s decision is sufficient, without any other legal authorization required, Nadler said he learned. “I was rather startled,” said Nadler, an attorney and congressman who serves on the House Judiciary committee.

Because the same legal standards that apply to phone calls also apply to e-mail messages, text messages, and instant messages, being able to listen to phone calls would mean the NSA analysts could also access the contents of Internet communications without going before a court and seeking approval.

This violates the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment and Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Fourth Amendment

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Fourteenth Amendment Section 1.

“Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

While Federal Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies lie to Congressional Oversight Committees and American citizens, Edward Snowden continues to reveal accurate and incriminating allegations against the United States Federal Government.

As charges of espionage are being leveled against Edward Snowden one has to wonder why charges of treason should not be leveled against the heads of the NSA, DOD, DIA, Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the National Security Advisor.

]]>https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/nsa-violates-4th-and-14th-amendments/feed/0stevenddeaconWhy is ‘Militia’ a Dirty Word In Our Constitution’s 2nd Amendment?https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/why-is-militia-a-dirty-word-in-our-constitutions-2nd-amendment/
https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/why-is-militia-a-dirty-word-in-our-constitutions-2nd-amendment/#respondThu, 21 Feb 2013 19:36:15 +0000http://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/?p=885I want to know why the term ‘Militia’ in the 2nd Amendment of our United States Constitution has become a dirty word in our culture and politics. It is because of the 2nd Amendment that the Japanese Army refused to invade the Continental United States during World War II. The Japanese Army was terrified that every home and dwelling would be bristling with guns to protect our country in a time of war. And they couldn’t have been more correct in their assessment. The State Militias were mobilized during WW I and WW II to protect our Homeland while our young and brave soldiers, sailors, and airmen carried the war to our enemies’ very shores and boarders.

“The reserve militia or unorganized militia, also created by the Militia Act of 1903 which presently consist of every able-bodied man of at least 17 and under 45 years of age who are not members of the National Guard or Naval Militia.(that is, anyone who would be eligible for a draft). Former members of the armed forces up to age 65 are also considered part of the “unorganized militia” per Sec 313 Title 32 of the US Code.”

However, the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, provides for an unorganized militia of every able-bodied man and woman to be ready to defend the Homeland against any threat both domestic and foreign. This Amendment predates, and thus supersedes, all Acts of Congress; especially the United States National Security Act, the establishment of the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Patriot Act. Because the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution has never been amended by the tenants of the Constitution of the United States of America it supersedes all State and Federal laws and acts. The States are therefore empowered, under the Constitution, to organize militias to protect State’s rights as granted by the Constitution of the United States of America and to protect the principles set forth by the Declaration of Independence …

“A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”

Article II Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States of America states:

“The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in the executive Departments, upon any Subject on the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.”

President John Adams, President Thomas Jefferson, and President James Madison make it perfectly clear in their communications that the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States is to guarantee each State’s individual rights to keep an unorganized militia which may be mobilized as an organized militia to protect the Constitution of the United States of America and to protect the sovereignty of each State and the United States of America as guaranteed by Article II Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States of America. That anyone, including the President, Vice-President, Executive Branch, Congressional Branch, or Judicial Branch of the United States Government may be considered as enemies of the “State” if they exceed their powers as granted under the Constitution of the United States of America.

“And no law enacted by the Congress of the United States or the legislatures of said States shall supersede the rights of the citizens of these said States to form unorganized militias to protect and serve the Constitution of the United States to preserve our rights as stated in the Declaration of Independence.”

In order for the States of our Union to organize militias in a time of emergency it is imperative each State guarantee a citizen’s access to any and all arms deemed necessary to meet the imperative threats for the security of said State’s citizens. The threat of individual rights and liberties in the United States has never been in greater peril from threats, both domestic and foreign. The growth and scope of the United States National Security Agency‘s powers to obstruct and invade our personal freedoms and privacy is unparalleled in our Nation’s history.

The States lost their rights of sovereignty when President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated and the Union ceased being a Republic and the United States of America became the Federated States of America. The Federal Government was born and the States lost most of their rights as granted under the Constitution of the United States of America.

Then on July 26, 1947, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act which stripped the States and individuals of most of their rights as granted under the Constitution. The Act was ratified by Congress on September 18, 1947 and enacted the formation of the Central Intelligence Agency from the newly formed Office of Special Operations, (the OSO evolved from the Army’s Office of Strategic Services and the Central Intelligence Group), as well as, the United States Air Force from the Army Air Corp as separate services. History tells us the National Security Act was signed by the President aboard Air Force One,nearly two months prior to the ratification of the Act by Congress. How could Air Force One exist nearly two months before the Act was actually ratified and officially created the United States Air Force?

Another question I have is “Why was the National Security Act signed by President Truman just twenty days after the Roswell UFO Incident?” What was so terrifying about the Roswell UFO Incident that the US Government felt a need to take such a Draconianaction?

After 9/11 the USA Patriot Act was signed into law granting the Federal Government even more power while stripping States and individuals of more rights. The assault on our individual freedoms continue today as drones are used to spy on US citizens without due process as the U.S. strides closer to a police state.

You are not only being outsourced by your country, but if Big Brother (the NSA) isn’t watching you now they soon will be. As the FBI issues Request for Proposals for software to spy on Social Media web sites, the NSA plans on spying on the world using all electronic media, both nationally and internationally, at their disposal.

As a member of the US Department of Defense the NSA has no legal right to spy on US citizens. NSA national and inter-national surveillance will be expanded with the building and implementation of this new ultra-modern and expansive data center. The NSA will conduct their surveillance without accountability to the Department of Homeland Security nor does it seem that the Department of Justice will interfere with NSA operations.

With the building of the new NSA super data center facility they will be able to tap into all other United States Federal, State, Territorial, County, and Municipal surveillance technology to coordinate their Orwellian Policy. They will also be able to tap into foreign intelligence and law enforcement assets.

As a member of the U.S. Department of Defense the NSA has no legal right to spy on US citizens. NSA national and international surveillance will be expanded with the building and implementation of this new ultra-modern and expansive data center. NSA surveillance without accountability to the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice.

The National Security Council, (made up of the President and Vice President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon’s Joint Chief of Staff, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Director of National Intelligence (DNI). and the National Security Advisor), will wield totalitarian power over all citizens of the United States.

With no oversight, (or obviously insight) provided for the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice there will be an attempt on their respective parts to acquire intelligence from the NSA to supplement their own means of gathering domestic intelligence on anti-american agents, activists, and parties, both domestic and foreign, and of their activities to do harm to the security of our nation. The Department of Homeland Security is actively involved in equipping their agencies with the latest technologies available for gathering this intelligence. One such resource available to DHS is its own U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) Student & Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) Database. DHS’s Federal Bureau of Investigation plans on spying on Social Media web sites and their subscribers. This will add to their already growing number of Cyber-Space Surveillance Technologies currently implemented and planned for implementation.

]]>https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2013/01/06/the-nsa-is-building-the-countrys-biggest-spy-center/feed/0stevenddeaconSandy Bill Comes Up $51 Billion Short for Storm Victimshttps://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/sandy-bill-comes-up-51-billion-short-for-storm-victims/
https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2013/01/05/sandy-bill-comes-up-51-billion-short-for-storm-victims/#respondSat, 05 Jan 2013 20:09:39 +0000http://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/?p=825New Jersey GovernorChris Christie must be wondering what is wrong with his fellow RepublicanCongressional Representatives as they stall Sandy Storm reparation and re-building funds for his irate and angered constituents who have waited nearly two months for direly needed relief aid.

The current chain of events show how little influence the House Speaker Boehner has over his Republican Congress. The Republicans are in a state of complete disarray as they bicker, back stab, and continue their in-fighting with each other over serious Congressional Funding issues.

A Great Republican President once stated that no house divided can long stand. And so Abraham Lincoln’s great wisdom goes unheeded as Congress becomes a quagmire of inaction, lacking in civility and charity.

Republican Conservative John W. Dean is deeply vexed by a party which has become “Conservatives Without a Conscience”. The recent $9 Billion stop-gap bill to provide badly needed relief to Sandy Storm victims falls far short of the $60 Billion required for rebuilding and subsidizing a recovery for storm victims, who are suffering physically, mentally, and the indignity of not being valued American citizens.

Today, Conservative Fundamentalist Republicans scorn President Ronald Reagan and both father and son George H.W. Bush’s and George W. Bush’s fiscal spending policies, while resolutely quiet about President Bill Clinton‘s fiscal spending policies. I wonder how these “fiscally responsible Republicans” would have felt about President Eisenhower‘s funding of the National Interstate Highway System which has paid for itself a hundred times over for itself. Construction was authorized by the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956, and the original portion was completed 35 years later. The cost of construction has been estimated at $425 billion (in 2006 dollars).

I can only wonder what the “Neo-Fiscal-Fascist Republicans” “final solution” will be for the Sandy Storm Victims. Right now they are $51 Billion shy of the beginning of a real solution.

What would Founding Father, President Thomas Jefferson have done with these “Neo-Fiscal-Fascist Republicans”? He probably would have put them under an Executive Order of Arrest for deliberately endangering American lives.

President Obama’s only alternative may be to declare a “State of National Emergency” in New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut and force Congress to allocate the required relief funds or suffer Executive Order’s to have the Department of Justice to bring suit to the Supreme Court accusing Congress for endangering our National Security! President John Quincy Adams would not have hesitated to take said action under such circumstances.

“This is the story no one wanted to write nor does anyone want to read. But it had to be told.”

After the terrible massacre and tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting of Newtown, Fairfield County, Connecticut and comparisons to the Massacre at Columbine High School, Jefferson County, Colorado a gross misunderstanding of the types of weapons which were used in both mass killings seems to have pervaded the press by journalists and political pundits, as well as, politicians all of whom have not proven that they have any expertise or knowledge to be commenting on.

We need to thoroughly understand the types of firearms which were used in each tragedy and the characteristics, in each case, to properly categorize the weapons which were used in both shooting incidents.

First of all, the shape of the firearms used do not delineate the category of weapons which were used in both incidents. It is the ballistics of the ammunition or caliber and actions or firing mechanism characteristics which determine the type of weapon category each firearm would fall under.

Walther P99, a semi-automatic pistol from the late 1990s. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This fact is important in that no ‘Assault Weapon‘ category firearms were used at Columbine.

What makes a rifle or carbine an ‘Assault Weapon’ is the caliber of ammunition used by the weapon in relation to the firing mechanism of the weapon. An ‘Assault Weapon’ is defined as a weapon which uses a particular family of calibers of ammunition in relation to the firing mechanism which may be fully automatic, partially automatic, or semi-automatic.

The ‘Assault Weapon’ may belong to one of several categories of weapons using a variety of ammunition and firing mechanisms. Typically an ‘Assault Weapon’ has one of these several combinations of characteristics:

A fully automatic or semi-automatic M14, M1A Springfield, or FN FAL battle rifle or carbine firing a .308 Winchester or military 7.62x51mm NATO round of ammunition.

English: .308 Winchester rifle cartridge (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The new selective fire Bull-Pup designed ‘Assault Rifles‘ firearms produced for a few of calibers but primarily the .223 Remington/5.56x45mm NATO calibers.

And CQB and PDW weapons in most cases using pistol cartridge in 9mm parabellum or a newer small 4.6×30 mm cartridge. Primary examples of CQB and PDW firearms are the H&K’s MP5 or MP7, or the popular Israeli Uzi.

Almost all non-revolver pistols are semi-automatic. The most popular caliber is the 9mm parabellum, followed by the American .40 S&W and .45 ACP calibers.

The first fully automatic heavy machine gun was the Maxim Machine Gun invented by Hiram Maxim prior to WW I. The ammunition was belt fed and the gun and tripod it rested on were so heavy it took three men to man it. John Moses Browning invented a clip fed light machine gun prior to the end of WW I, called the Browning Automatic Rifle or BAR. Many heavy and light machine guns were invented after WW I, WW II, and the Korean and Viet Nam Wars, including belt fed and clip fed models in many different calibers of ammunition.

During any school or campus shootings no heavy, light, or sub-machine gun was used during the course of the murderous crimes. Only a full, partial or burst (burst of three rounds automatically fired), or semi-automatic ‘Assault Weapon’ may have been used in some of the crimes.

The mass murderer of Sandy Hook Elementary School, Jefferson County, Connecticut used a model AR-15 Bushmaster in .223 Remington caliber. The reason for the 30 round clips of ammunition is because the .223 cartridge has a reputation for not having any knock down power.

This has been the primary complaint of the M16 by U.S. Troops since the Viet Nam War and was illustrated during the incident in Mogadishu, Somalia known as ‘Black Hawk Down’, when U.S. Rangers complained their M16 rifles and M4 carbines using 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition repeatedly failed to drop combatants after the combatants had been hit several times.

The murderer’s lack of ballistic knowledge caused horrific carnage and suffering of the defenseless children and school personnel as he fired repeatedly at many of his victims hitting them more than once, and as many as five times, before they were killed.

One can only imagine what kind of carnage the murders at Columbine perpetrated on their victims with 12-gauge shot guns. Blasts from 12-gauge shot guns are horrific and physically and mentally shattering. Those that live through such an ordeal suffer untold pain from their wounds.

Remington 870 MM (Photo credit: WickedVT)

The 12-gauge shot-gun is not considered by law as an ‘Assault Weapon’. Yet if I had to defend myself in Close Quarters Combat (CQB) I would want such a weapon to quickly repel my assailants. Law enforcement and our military use shot guns for CQB operations due to their effectiveness to knock down and out any assailant.

Since the Los Angeles, Hollywood bank robbery shootout where the LAPD armed with only 9mm pistols and 12-gauge shot guns were severely out gunned by the two bank robbers armed with Chinese Type 56 designed AK47 fully automatic ‘Assault Rifles’ while wearing body armor. the LAPD has since armed their officers with M16 or AR-15 weapons using ammunition to penetrate body armor.

For all intents and purposes the effectiveness of the .223 Remington/5.56x45mm NATO round is completely dependent on the shooter. Because the round is in effect a .22 caliber round the placement of the shots are of extreme importance. The caliber is most effective when spotted at soft tissue covering vital organs and of little effect when striking ‘flesh covered bone’ protecting vital organs. For all intents and purposes the round is most effective when taking head and neck shots which requires a high degree of proficiency on the part of the shooter.

Vastly superior calibers of ammunition for effect are the .308 Winchester/7.62X51mm NATO; .240 APEX or Mag, .257 Roberts, .300 Savage, 45-70 Gov., .30-06, and various .300 magnum full rifle calibers which are most effective when used in bolt-action and lever-action rifles with longer barrels (rifled barrels of 20″ – 28″ or more) or rifled carbines (lighter rifles with barrels of 18″ – 24″ and commonly referred to as scout rifles). Even at close range, say 100 yards or less the .30-.30 cartridge may be more effective than the .223 Remington/5.56×45 NATO.

For semi-automatic pistol calibers the .40 S&W, .45 ACP; and hollow tipped 9mm parabellum semi-automatic rounds are the most popular for anti-personnel rounds. There may be a bitter debate about the merits of the .380 ACP developed by John Moses Browning in 1908. However, with the development of the mini-9mm semi-auto pistols the 9mm parabellum seems it will remain the smallest, most effective, anti-personnel semi-automatic cartridge.

For revolvers the hollow tip .38 Special cartridge and .44 Special, .45 Colt and .357 magnum calibers are the most common anti-personnel rounds. Many contend that the .44 magnum, and calibers larger than the .45 Colt are the most effective revolver calibers, yet they again require a great deal of proficiency to master.

I’ve given you a brief overview of what weapons are available to anarchists, terrorists, drug cartels, robbers, thieves, bandits, pirates and murderers. Please get to know them and recognize them and what they are capable of doing in order to protect yourselves.

Please take heed from this posting. The next occurrence of terrorism in our schools and campuses is most likely to be a ‘Czechia Hostage Incident’ where gun wielding terrorists with para-military training will take hostage a whole school or campus with booby traps and human bombs. Our schools and college campuses are prime targets for terrorists seeking martyrdom. The Department of Homeland Defense has no plans or contingencies in place to defend our education system from such a threat. The DHS has contingency plans only for dealing for this type of terrorism after the threat has been realized. Such plans would include using Delta Force and other U.S. military Special Operation Tactical Forces to augment the FBI’s and ATF’s Special Task Forces to contain the incident. ‘Contain‘ is defined as taking back the school or campus with the minimum loss of civilian/hostage casualties.

My only recommendation is to arm yourself. Learn firearm safety and practice it as a religion. Master your weapon(s) and take a course in tactical defensive shooting and hand to hand combat. Do it and do it now! The next school could be your child’s. Be armed, be aware, and be prepared to ‘take action with deadly force’ to protect those you love.

The easiest and most practical and pragmatic lethal self-defense Martial Art to learn is Krav Maga. If you cannot find a Krav Maga instructor near you then I suggest finding a good jiu-jitsu (Jujutsu) school to join as it is the foundation of Krav Maga. Stay away from stylistic and competition styles of the Martial Arts like Tai Kwon Do (Taekwondo). And do not join an esoteric Martial Arts school like Kung Fu or Okinawa-te. The only other Martial Art worth pursuing is Aikido, which is great form of Martial Art to pursue if you already practice Qi Qong and/or T’ai chi ch’uan (Tai Chi). The only problem is finding a realAikido Sen-Sei (Teacher/Instructor).

The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America places the burden of safety on yourself and for those you love, as well as, your neighbors and community. The 2nd Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America guarantees you those rights.

No Law Enforcement or Government Agencies can protect you from these threats. You have to take responsibility for yourself. Do so now, or you and those you love will become victims. If you think the Government cares … ask them “How many armed sentinels they have on any given school campus in this country?”. You already know the answer. You have seen the results. The next incident will only be worse unless youtake decisive action to defend you, yours, and those you love and respect.

We are at war with Terrorism. The enemy could be the neighbor next door or half a world away. Either way, he can be on your door step tomorrow.

To answer the question posed by the title of this posting … “What is an ‘Assault Weapon’? I can only hope it is ‘you’. You had better be an ‘assault weapon’ when you and those you love are threatened. Train to be so.

The only way to defeat an extremist is to prepare yourself to make the same sacrifices.

I will give you some advice and the analogy is to an old saying:

“Never bring a knife to a gun fight!”

When confronted with a situation which is untenable but gives you time to make a quick assessment of the situation to determine you are unreasonably risking the lives of those you are trying to protect … call for help immediately. Call 911 or scream for someone to call 911 to get the right resources on scene.

If you have a choice of fight or flight then the better part of valor is the discretion of flight.

If you are trapped and have no means to regress then fight like hell! Remember your tactical training and breath. Use your muscle memory you have gained from practice to react to each situation as it presents itself.

If you focus on what will happen to yourself then you will surely lose!

But if you focus on your trainingand take out the most dangerous combatants first you will quickly gain the advantage and may even cause your combatants to lose morale and start to regress themselves.

Control your shot selection and double tap each combatant with confidence before moving to the next greatest threat. This will conserve ammunition and reduce the number of reloads you will require.

When trapped, fight like a Tiger with total viciousness and deadliness!

Always remember your training and always know when you are out gunned!

]]>https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/sandy-hook-and-the-assault-weapon-what-is-an-assault-weapon/feed/0stevenddeaconWalther P99, a semi-automatic pistol from the ...An Intratec TEC-DC9 with 32-round magazine; a ...English: The 7.62x51mm NATO and 5.56x45mm NATO...English: .308 Winchester rifle cartridgeThis is a line-up of pistol and rifle cartridg...An M16A1, belonging to Indonesia's Brigade Mobil.AR-15 BushmasterRemington 870 MMRemington 6.8 Caliber ComparisonDepartment of Justice and FBI Declare War on White House and CIAhttps://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/department-of-justice-and-fbi-declare-war-on-white-house-and-cia/
https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/department-of-justice-and-fbi-declare-war-on-white-house-and-cia/#commentsSat, 10 Nov 2012 22:05:15 +0000http://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/?p=691While the Department of Defense, and its National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency carry on domestic national spy programs on U.S. Citizens violating the Constitution of the United States of America and the Bill of Rights; the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation declares War on the White House, Director of National Intelligence, and the Central Intelligence Agency.

The FBI investigation sanctioned by the Department of Justice of CIA Director General David H. Petraeus exposed his extra-marital affair which FBI officials identified as Ms. Broadwell leading to the immediate resignation of General Petraeus. The Department of Justice has now succeeded in removing one of very few military minds which has successfully protected this country from attacks by terrorists throughout the world.

The DOJ and FBI has succeeded in making this country far more vulnerable to terrorist attacks in the future by removing one our generation’s greatest military and counter-intelligence minds. They have also created a vacuüm which the DoD‘s NSA and DIA is all to willing to fill by increasing their violation of individual freedoms under the Constitution of the United States.

The White House, Director of National Intelligence, and the Congressional Senate and House Committees where caught totally by surprise by the charges levied against General Petraeus. The credibility of the entire Federal Law Enforcement, National Intelligence Agencies, and National Defense Agencies are now in question.

Many questions surrounding National Security need to be answered. First of all; Why did a Federal Agency not coordinate its investigation with all National Security Agencies since one of the most important Agencies was at the center of the investigation. This was the primary reason the Department of Homeland Security formed after 9/11. Yet all protocols to protect the citizens of this Nation were circumvented.

The damage done is enormous. The complete destruction and career of one of the United States most decorated military and counter-intelligence leaders over an extra-marital affair which employees, agents, and lawyers in the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation would not be able to deny themselves. Nothing was gained by this investigation while the interests of National Security have been highly compromised. The White House’s advisers and the President’s Cabinet will now be focused on what other nefarious investigations being conducted by the FBI while the DoD Agencies continue to violate the Constitution of the United States and the rights of private citizens with impunity.

But one thing which has become most prominently obvious. After investing hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars in the Department of Homeland Security it continues to flounder about with no real charter as an entity bloated of uncoördinated Federal Agencies and hundreds of billions of wasted tax dollars while providing no real services to this country or its citizens. The other obvious deficiency is the Department of Justices ability to effectively investigate and prosecute real national security threats to the citizens of this country.

The Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Defense need to be investigated by a joint Congressional National Security Committee to assess the charters of and necessity for some Agencies and possibly the existence of DHS as a Federal Government Entity.

]]>https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/department-of-justice-and-fbi-declare-war-on-white-house-and-cia/feed/2stevenddeacon“We the People” in order to form a “More Perfect Union”https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/we-the-people-in-order-to-form-a-more-perfect-union/
https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2012/11/09/we-the-people-in-order-to-form-a-more-perfect-union/#commentsFri, 09 Nov 2012 17:12:05 +0000http://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/?p=675The Federal Government of the United States believes that the United States Seal Teams are Federal Government Assets which are answerable only to the United States Department of Defense, National Security Council, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and President of the United States of America.

Nothing could be further from the truth. The members of all United States Military Departments and Agencies answer for their actions to “We the People”. The U.S. Government has assumed the mantle of the “Supreme Law of the Land”. Yet they have continually proven they do not have to answer to anyone but themselves, least of all to those who have given them the privilege to serve.

All members of Seal Team Six are National Heroes not U.S. Government heroes. They answer to, and only to, “We the People” whom they have given an oath to serve and protect under the Constitution of the United States of America. They will not be held accountable under oath to the Government of the United States of America under any legislative act concerning National Security unless the citizens of the United States deem they have violated their oath under the Constitution. All charges against Seal Team Six by the Department of Defense must be dropped immediately in the interests of National Security as the members of Seal Team Six are heroes of “The People”.

“We the People” have “a right to know” what our “Government” is doing in the interests of National Security to determine if said Federal Government Officials are acting in the best interests of the Nation under the Constitution. It is the people governed by the Constitution of the United States who determine what is in our best interests and those officials appointed U.S. Government officials which have not been elected to their offices by a popular vote and yet act as elected executives of the Government and feel unfettered by the Constitution of this country which guarantees the rights of all citizens who have elected their officials by popular vote.

“We the People” in order to form a “More Perfect Union” and not a “Federal Government” demand our U.S. Government to answer for its actions. If the currently elected Federal Government refuses to abide by the Constitution of these United States it is within our power to relieve them of their duties in any manner deemed necessary to return the Federal Government to operate under the tenants of the Constitution of the United States.

The American Civil War fought from 1861-1865 ranks as the most terrible conflict ever experienced in the Western Hemisphere in recorded history. The Confederate States of America’s War of Secession from the United States of America recorded a total death toll on both sides exceeding 625,000 military personnel killed and 412,200 wounded. Total military casualties exceeded 1,037,200. The number of civilian casualties throughout the Civil War are unknown but most probably exceeded several million as collateral casualties of war, and from disease, and starvation.

In comparison, World War II United States military personnel killed was 416,837 with 683,846 wounded for a total of 1,100,683 casualties. However when the number of American civilian casualties is factored in World War II pales in comparison. The destruction caused to the Southern Confederacy also greatly exceeds the destruction caused to the Continental United States during World War II.

On July 1, 1863 the bloodiest battle ever fought in recorded history in the Western Hemisphere was fought for three days in and around the township of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on the eve of the anniversary of the signing of the American Continental Congress’s adoption of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 4, 1776. This battle of the Confederate States of America‘s attempt to secede from the Union of the United States of America seems to have become a footnote in American Civil War history. Yet, on the eve of “The Battle of Gettysburg‘s” anniversary, this engagement means far more than a turning point in the “War of Secession“. Up to this point, the Confederate States of America had been winning the war against the Union. Robert E. Lee, General of the Army of Northern Virginia for the Confederate States of America, (who became the Confederacy’s closest military adviser to President Jefferson Davis, former Secretary of War of the United States of America), as he won battle after battle against the Union forces of the North until Gettysburg, where he lost his first major, and possibly greatest battle, in a shattering defeat which devastated the Southern States’ psyche in its attempt to secede from the Union.

The American Civil War was not a rebellion of loosely aligned Southern States against a unified U.S. Federal Government. It was a war of armies on both sides made up of numerous regiments from individual states dedicated to the cause of a Union of Northern States versus a Confederacy of Southern States based on whether the law of the Central U.S. Government superseded the rights of States granted under the Constitution of the United States of America. When President Abraham Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, and his final Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, President Jefferson Davis and the Southern Confederacy saw it as a supreme threat to the vital security and economy of the Confederacy. This set the stage for the epic Battle of Gettysburg.

General E. Lee was arguably the greatest military mind and field general ever to graduate from the West Point Academy, (Class of 1829). Robert E. Lee served in the United States Army from 1829–1861. Resigning his commission as a colonel on April 20, 1861 for a commission in the Confederate States of America as a colonel and took up command of the Virginia state forces on April 23. During his career in the United States Army he distinguished himself during the Mexican–American War (1846–1848), as a chief aid to BrevetLieutenant GeneralWinfield Scott:

At the outbreak of the American Civil War, Colonel Robert E. Lee was appointed to command all of Virginia’s forces, but upon the formation of the Confederate States Army, he was named one of its first five full generals. General Lee’s first field assignment was commanding Confederate forces in western Virginia, where he was defeated at the Battle of Cheat Mountain and was widely blamed for Confederate setbacks. Following the wounding of General Joseph E. Johnston at the Battle of Seven Pines, on June 1, 1862, General Lee assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia, his first opportunity to lead an army in the field.

In the spring of 1862, as part of the Peninsula Campaign, the Union Army of the Potomac under Major General George B. McClellan advanced upon Richmond from Fort Monroe, eventually reaching the eastern edges of the Confederate capital along the Chickahominy River. General Lee then launched a series of attacks, the Seven Days Battles, against General McClellan’s forces. General Lee’s assaults resulted in heavy Confederate casualties. They were marred by clumsy tactical performances by his division commanders, but his aggressive actions unnerved General McClellan, who retreated to a point on the James River and abandoned the Peninsula Campaign.

After General McClellan’s retreat, General Lee defeated another Union army under the command of Union General John Pope at the Second Battle of Bull Run also known as the Battle of Second Manassas. Within 90 days of taking command, General Lee had run Union General McClellan off the Peninsula, defeated General Pope at the Second Battle of Bull Run and had moved the battle lines from 6 miles outside Richmond, to 20 miles outside of Washington D.C..

General Lee then invaded Maryland, hoping to replenish his supplies and possibly influence the Northern elections to fall in favor of ending the war. General McClellan’s men recovered a lost order that revealed General Lee’s plans. General McClellan, however, was too slow in moving, not realizing General Lee had been informed by a spy that General McClellan knew of his plans. General Lee urgently recalled Lieutenant General (CSA)Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, concentrating his forces west of Antietam Creek, near Sharpsburg, Maryland. In the bloodiest day of the war thus far, (The Battle of Antietam, also known as Battle of Sharpsburg), both sides suffered enormous losses. General Lee miraculously withstood the Union assaults. His army severely battered, General Lee withdrew back to Virginia.

When President Abraham Lincoln used the Confederate reversal as an opportunity to announce the Emancipation Proclamation putting the Confederacy on the diplomatic and moral defensive, and would ultimately devastate the Confederacy’s slave-based economy. Disappointed by General McClellan’s failure to destroy General Lee’s army, President Lincoln named General Ambrose Burnside as commander of the Army of the Potomac. General Burnside ordered an attack across the Rappahannock River at Fredericksburg. Delays in building bridges across the river allowed General Lee’s army ample time to organize strong defenses, and the frontal assault by Union forces on December 13, 1862, was a disaster for the Union. There were 12,600 Union casualties to 5,000 Confederate; one of the most “one-sided battles” in the Civil War.

After the bitter Union defeat at Fredericksburg, President Lincoln named General Joseph Hooker commander of the Army of the Potomac. General Hooker’s advance to attack General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in May, 1863, near Chancellorsville, Virginia, was defeated by General Lee and his famed General, Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s daring plan to divide the army by attacking Union General Hooker’s flank. It was a victory over a larger force, but it also came with high casualties. It was particularly costly in one respect: General Lee’s finest corps commander, General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, was accidentally fired upon by his own troops. Weakened by his wounds, he succumbed to pneumonia. The loss of General Thomas Jackson may have been General Lee’s greatest loss until the Battle of Gettysburg.

The Battle of Gettysburg, July 1–3, 1863, Adams County, Pennsylvania

Battle of Gettysburg by Currier and Ives

The Battle of Gettysburg, was fought July 1–3, 1863, in Adams County and in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war’s turning point. Union Major General George Gordon Meade’s Army of the Potomac defeated attacks by Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, ending Lee’s invasion of the Union North.

Up to this point in the American Civil War, the General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, had not lost any military actions or battles which jeopardized the Confederates Army of Northern Virginia during the war. Robert E. Lee is arguably the greatest general ever to graduate from West Point. Yet he lost the Battle of Gettysburg because he ignored several Sun Tzu fundamentals of war.

General Robert E. Lee’s strategy was to deceive the Army of the Potomac by feinting a direct attack on Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as it was a predominant strategic objective. Harrisburg was a significant training center for the Union Army, with tens of thousands of troops passing through Camp Curtin. It was also a major rail center and a vital link between the Atlantic coast and the Midwest, with several railroads running through the city and over the Susquehanna River. From Harrisburg, General Lee would have access to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania’s coal mining and steel manufacturing mills and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania’s industrial armory manufacturing. General Lee would be able to cut-off weapons and munitions supplies from the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Pennsylvania, thus crippling the entire Union Armies’ supply lines.

General Robert E. Lee’s true strategic objective to divert the Union Army of the Potomac to engage his attack on Harrisburg, Pennsylvania would leave the Capital of Washington, D.C.. in Maryland, on the border with Virginia, defenseless to an attack by Robert E. Lee’s Army’s main body. General Robert E. Lee and the Confederate States of America’s President Jefferson Davis believed that if they captured the Union’s Capital City, President Abraham Lincoln, and Congress, that the war would be ended with the unconditional surrender of the Union and the recognition of the Confederate States of America.

However, General Robert E. Lee was unaware that in a dispute over the use of the forces defending the Harpers Ferry garrison, Major General Joseph Hooker Commander of the Army of the Potomac offered his resignation, and President Lincoln and General-in-Chief Henry W. Halleck, who were looking for an excuse to get rid of General Hooker, immediately accepted. They replaced General Hooker early on the morning of June 28, 1863 with Major General George Gordon Meade, then commander of the V Corps of the Army of the Potomac, making him Commanding General of the Union’s Army of the Potomac.

General Lee’s strategy was founded on the premise that Major General Joseph Hooker would panic, and break Sun Tzu’s axiom by “fighting first than seeking victory”, by trying to defend Harrisburg thus leaving Washington D.C. virtually defenseless. In the end, General Robert E. Lee was the one to make that very same error in judgement by “fighting first than seeking victory” at the Battle of Gettysburg.

On June 29, when General Lee learned that the Army of the Potomac had crossed the Potomac River, he ordered a concentration of his forces around Cashtown, located at the eastern base of South Mountain and eight miles west of Gettysburg.

Knowing General Lee could either take Harrisburg, Pennsylvania or Washington, D.C. in Virginia, Major General George G. Meade conferred with his staff to decide how to defend against General Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania. On June 30, 1863, under orders from General George G. Meade, Brigadier General John Buford of the Union Army, arrived south of the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Also on June 30, Confederate Brigadier General J. Johnston Pettigrew, ventured toward Gettysburg to search for supplies, in particular shoes for his barefoot troops, in the town of Gettysburg, under the orders of Major General Henry Heth, his division commander.

Despite General Lee’s order to avoid a general engagement until his entire army was concentrated, Confederate Major General Heth’s commanding officer, Lieutenant General Hill, decided to mount a significant “reconnaissance in force” the following morning to determine the size and strength of the enemy force in his front (Brigadier General John Buford of the Union Army). Around 5 a.m. on Wednesday, July 1, two brigades of Confederate General Heth’s division advanced to Gettysburg.

Battle of Gettysburg, First Day, July 1, 1863

The Beginning

The Battle Field Of Gettysburg July 1863

Anticipating that the Confederates would march on Gettysburg from the west on the morning of July 1, Union Brigadier General John Buford laid out his defenses on three ridges west of the town: Herr Ridge, McPherson Ridge, and Seminary Ridge. These were appropriate terrain for a delaying action by his small cavalry division against superior Confederate infantry forces, and was meant to buy time, awaiting the arrival of Union infantrymen who could occupy the strong defensive positions south of town at Cemetery Hill, Cemetery Ridge, and Culp’s Hill. Brigadier General John Buford understood that if the Confederates could gain control of these heights, General Meade’s army would have significant difficulty dislodging them. And if General Lee placed a battery of cannons in these positions they could rain down death and destruction on Union forces attempting to retake these strategic positions.

Union Brigadier General John Buford used Mark McNeilly‘s fourth and fifth principles of his publication “Sun Tzu and The Art of Modern Warfare” (“Speed and Preparation” to “Prepare the Battlefield”), and Sun Tzu’s axiom’s 7, 9, and 10 (“bring their enemy to the field of battle”; “only fight if a position or objective is critical!”; and “Hold the high ground to maintain an advantage over the enemy”. Being confronted by superior forces, General Buford chose to defend the high ground, in a holding action, waiting for the Union I Corps commanded by Major General John F. Reynolds to reinforce him and cover his flank.

Map of Battle of Gettysburg Map – July 1, 1863

Major General Heth’s Confederate division advanced with two brigades forward, commanded by Brigadier Generals James J. Archer and Joseph R. Davis. They proceeded easterly in columns along the Chambersburg Pike. Eventually, General Heth’s men reached dismounted troopers of Colonel William Gamble‘s cavalry brigade, who raised determined resistance and delaying tactics from behind fence posts with fire from their breechloading carbines.Still, by 10:20 a.m., the Confederates had pushed the Union cavalrymen east to McPherson Ridge, at which time the vanguard of the Union I Corps lead by Major General John F. Reynolds finally reinforced Colonel Gamble’s tattered cavalry brigade.

North of the pike, Confederate General Davis gained a temporary success against Union Brigadier General Lysander Cutler‘s brigade but was repulsed with heavy losses in an action around an unfinished railroad bed cut in the ridge. South of the pike, General Archer’s Confederate brigade assaulted through McPherson’s Woods. The Federal Iron Brigade under Union Brigadier General Solomon Meredith enjoyed initial success against General Archer’s attacks, and captured several hundred men, including Brigadier General Archer himself.

Union Major General Reynolds of I Corps was shot and killed early in the fighting while directing troop and artillery placements just to the east of the woods. Shelby Foote wrote that “the Union cause lost a man considered by many to be the best general in the army.” Union Major General Abner Doubleday assumed command of I Corps. Fighting in the Chambersburg Pike area lasted until about 12:30 p.m. It resumed around 2:30 p.m., when Heth’s entire division engaged, adding the brigades of General Pettigrew and Colonel John M. Brockenbrough.

As Brigadier General Pettigrew’s North Carolina Brigade came on line, they flanked the Union’s 19th Indiana and drove the Iron Brigade back. The 26th North Carolina (the largest regiment in the Confederate Army with 839 men) lost heavily, leaving the first day’s fight with around 212 men. By the end of the three-day battle, they had about 152 men standing, the highest casualty percentage for one battle of any regiment, North or South.Slowly the Iron Brigade was pushed out of the woods toward Seminary Ridge. Confederate Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill, added Major General William Dorsey Pender‘s division to the assault, and the Union I Corps was driven back through the grounds of the Lutheran Seminary and into Gettysburg’s streets.

As the fighting to the west proceeded, two divisions of Confederate Lieutenant General Richard Stoddert Ewell‘s Second Corps, marching west toward Cashtown in accordance with General Lee’s order for the army to concentrate in that vicinity, turned south on the Carlisle and Harrisburg roads toward Gettysburg, while the Union XI Corps commanded by Major General Oliver O. Howard raced north on the Baltimore Pike and Taneytown Road. By early afternoon, the Union’s line ran in a semicircle west, north, and northeast of Gettysburg.

The Union forces did not have enough troops; Union Brigadier General Lysander Cutler, was deployed north of the Chambersburg Pike, with his right flank unprotected. The leftmost division of the Union XI Corps was unable to deploy in time to strengthen the line, so Major General Abner Doubleday was forced to throw in reserve brigades to salvage his line.

Around 2 p.m., the Confederate Second Corps divisions of Major Generals Robert E. Rodes and Jubal Early assaulted and out-flanked the Union I and XI Corps positions north and northwest of town. The Confederate brigades of Colonel Edward A. O’Neal and Brigadier General Alfred Iverson suffered severe losses assaulting the Union I Corps division of Brigadier General John C. Robinson south of Oak Hill. General Early’s division profited from a blunder by Union Brigadier General Francis C. Barlow, when he advanced his XI Corps division to Blocher’s Knoll (directly north of town and now known as Barlow’s Knoll); creating a protrusion in the line, (open to flanking attacks from both sides), and General Early’s troops overran General Barlow’s division, which constituted the right flank of the Union Army’s position. General Barlow was wounded and captured in the attack.

Due to the setbacks of the Union forces to mount effective defenses Major General Winfield S. Hancock assumed command of the battlefield. Sent by General Meade when he heard that General Reynolds had been killed, Major General Hancock, commander of the II Corps and Meade’s most trusted subordinate, was ordered to take command of the field and to determine whether Gettysburg was an appropriate place for a major battle. General Hancock proved to be worthy of the task of mounting the proper defenses of General Lee’s strategy to destroy the Union Army of the Potomac.

General Hancock quickly deduced that Little Round Top, Culp’s Hill, and Cemetery Hill would provide the Union forces a formidable position to anchor its defenses against the onslaught to come from General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Major General Hancock used Sun Tzu’s axioms 5,7, 9 and 10 to form his strategy to prepare the battlefield and dictate the terms of combat to the enemy with speed and preparation to overcome resistance.

Confederate Lieutenant General Hill’s blatant disregard to General Robert E. Lee’s standing order “not to engage the enemy” disregarded not only the chain of command but also Sun Tzu’s axioms 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13. Lieutenant General Hill’s numerical advantage, previous string of victories, and hubris contributed to his complete disregard of Mark McNeilly’s sixth principle “Character-Based Leadership: Leading by Example”. Although the Confederates gained terrain on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, Sun Tzu’s axiom 13 “Some ground should not be contested if it has no tactical or strategic advantage!” was totally disregarded. The Confederate advantage on the first day of the battle provided no strategic advantage in obtaining General Lee’s objective to capture Washington D.C.

The first day at Gettysburg, more significant than simply a prelude to the bloody second and third days, ranks as the 23rd largest battle of the war by number of troops engaged. About one quarter of Meade’s army (22,000 men) and one third of Lee’s army (27,000) were engaged. Confederate Lieutenant General Hill seemed to completely disregard Sun Tzu’s 5th axiom “The winning army realizes the conditions for victory first, then fights!”.

Battle of Gettysburg, Second Day, July 2, 1863

Throughout the evening of July 1 and morning of July 2, most of the remaining infantry of both armies arrived on the field, including the Union II, III, V, VI, and XII Corps. Confederate Lieutenant General Longstreet’s third division, commanded by Major General George Pickett, had begun the march from Chambersburg early in the morning; it did not arrive until late on July 2.

Map of The Battle of Gettysburg Map on July 2, 1863

The Union line ran from Culp’s Hill southeast of the town, northwest to Cemetery Hill just south of town, then south for nearly two miles along Cemetery Ridge, terminating just north of Little Round Top. Most of the Union XII Corps was on Culp’s Hill; the remnants of the Union I and XI Corps defended Cemetery Hill; Union II Corps covered most of the northern half of Cemetery Ridge; and Union III Corps was ordered to take up a position to its flank. The shape of the Union line is popularly described as a “fishhook” formation. The Confederate line paralleled the Union line about a mile to the west on Seminary Ridge, ran east through the town, then curved southeast to a point opposite Culp’s Hill. Thus, the Union army had interior lines, while the Confederate line was nearly five miles long.

General Robert E. Lee’s battle plan for July 2 called for Lieutenant General James Longstreet‘s First Corps to position itself stealthily to attack the Union left flank, facing northeast astraddle the Emmitsburg Road, and to roll up the Federal line. The progressive en echelon sequence of this attack would prevent Union General George Meade from shifting troops from his center to bolster his left flank. At the same time, Confederate Major General Edward “Allegheny” Johnson’s and Lieutenant General Jubal Early’s Second Corps divisions were to make a feint against Culp’s and Cemetery Hills (again, to prevent the shifting of Union troops), and to turn the feint into a full-scale attack if a favorable opportunity presented itself.

General Robert E. Lee’s strategy was based on faulty intelligence. Instead of moving beyond the Union’s left and attacking their flank, Confederate Lieutenant General Longstreet’s left division would face the Union Major General Daniel Sickles‘s III Corps directly in their path. General Sickles had been dissatisfied with the position assigned him on the southern end of Cemetery Ridge. Seeing higher ground more favorable to artillery positions a half mile to the west, he advanced his corps—without orders—to the slightly higher ground along the Emmitsburg Road. The new line ran from Devil’s Den, northwest to the Sherfy farm’s Peach Orchard, then northeast along the Emmitsburg Road to south of the Codori farm. However, this created an untenable position at the Peach Orchard. Union Brigadier General Andrew A. Humphreys‘s division (in position along the Emmitsburg Road) and Major General David B. Birney‘s division (to the south) were subject to attacks from two sides and were spread out over a longer front than their small corps could defend effectively.

Attack on the Union Left Flank

Map of The Battle of Gettysburg for Left Flank Union Army on July 2, 1863

As Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet’s divisions slammed into the Union III Corps, Major General George Meade was forced to send 20,000 reinforcements in the form of the entire V Corps, Brigadier General John C. Caldwell‘s division of the II Corps, most of the XII Corps, and small portions of the newly arrived VI Corps. The Confederate assault deviated from General Lee’s plan since Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood‘s division moved more easterly than intended, losing its alignment with the Emmitsburg Road, attacking Devil’s Den and Little Round Top. Confederate Major General Lafayette McLaws, coming in on Confederate Lieutenant General Hood’s left, drove multiple attacks into the thinly stretched Union III Corps in the Wheatfield and overwhelmed them in Sherfy’s Peach Orchard.

Confederate Major General McLaws’s attack eventually reached Plum Run Valley (the “Valley of Death”) before being beaten back by the Union’s Pennsylvania Reserves division of the V Corps, moving down from Little Round Top. The Union III Corps was virtually destroyed as an effective combat unit in this battle, and General Sickles’s leg was amputated after it was shattered by a cannonball. Union Brigadier General John Curtis Caldwell‘s division was destroyed piecemeal in the Wheatfield. Confederate Lieutenant General Richard H. Anderson‘s division, coming from Major General McLaws’s left and starting forward around 6 p.m., reached the crest of Cemetery Ridge, but it could not hold the position in the face of counterattacks from the Union II Corps, including an almost suicidal bayonet charge by the small 1st Minnesota regiment against a Confederate brigade, ordered in desperation by Major General Winfield Scott Hancock to buy time for reinforcements to arrive.

Bayonet Charge of the Union’s 20th Maine from Little Round Top at the Battle of Gettysburg

As fighting raged in the Wheatfield and Devil’s Den, Union Colonel Strong Vincent of V Corps had a precarious hold on Little Round Top, an important hill at the extreme left of the Union line. His brigade of four relatively small regiments was able to resist repeated assaults by Confederate Brigadier General Evander M. Law‘s brigade of Lieutenant General Hood’s division. General George Meade’s chief engineer, Brigadier General Gouverneur K. Warren, had realized the importance of this position, and dispatched Colonel Vincent’s brigade, an artillery battery, and the 140th New York to occupy Little Round Top mere minutes before Confederate Lieutenant General John Bell Hood’s troops arrived. The defense of Little Round Top with a bayonet charge by the Union’s 20th Maine was one of the most fabled episodes in the American Civil War.

Attack on the Union Right Flank

The Battle of Gettysburg July 2, 1863 – Union breastworks Culp Hill on Right Flank

About 7:00 p.m., the Union Second Corps’ attack by Confederate Major General Edward “Allegheny” Johnson‘s division on Culp’s Hill got off to a late start. Most of the hill’s defenders, the Union XII Corps, had been sent to the left to defend against Confederate Lieutenant General Longstreet’s attacks, and the only portion of the corps remaining on the hill was a Union brigade of New Yorkers under Brigadier General George S. Greene. Because of General Greene’s insistence on constructing strong defensive works, and with reinforcements from the I and XI Corps, General Greene’s men held off the Confederate attackers, although the Southerners did capture a portion of the abandoned Union defensive positions on the lower part of Culp’s Hill.

At first dark, two of Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early‘s brigades attacked the Union XI Corps positions on East Cemetery Hill where Union Colonial Andrew L. Harris of the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, came under a withering attack, losing half his men; however, Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal Early failed to support his brigades in their attack, and Confederate Lieutenant General Richard S. Ewell‘s remaining division, that of Major General Robert E. Rodes, failed to aid Lieutenant General Jubal Early’s attack by moving against Cemetery Hill from the west. The Union army’s interior lines enabled its commanders to shift troops quickly to critical areas, and with reinforcements from the Union II Corps, the Union troops retained possession of East Cemetery Hill, and Lieutenant General Jubal Early’s brigades were forced to withdraw.

Battle of Gettysburg, Third Day, July 3, 1863

Painting of The Battle of Gettysburg July 3, 1863 by Currier and Ives

Confederate General Robert E. Lee wished to renew the attack on Friday, July 3, using the same basic plan as the previous day: Lieutenant General James Longstreet would attack the Union’s left defensive position, while Lieutenant General Richard Ewell attacked Culp’s Hill. However, before Lieutenant General James Longstreet was ready, Union XII Corps troops started a dawn artillery bombardment against the Confederates on Culp’s Hill in an effort to regain a portion of their lost works. The Confederates attacked, and the second fight for Culp’s Hill ended around 11 a.m., after some seven hours of bitter combat.

Unable to fully control Culp’s Hill, General Lee should have recalled Napoleon Bonaparte’s situation at the Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815. As Napoleon Bonaparte had believed at the Battle of Waterloo versus the British under the command of the Duke of Wellington, General Robert E Lee believed if he could break through the center of the Union’s defenses and roll up through the lines of defense to the left he could collapse the entire Union defensive positions.

General Robert E. Lee completely ignored all the axioms of Sun Tzu, as Napoleon Bonaparte had, and he completely ignored Mark McNeilly’s 4th principle of preparedness and Sun Tzu’s “understanding of your enemies alliances and resources”. General Lee also ignored Su Tzu’s 9th axiom “Only fight if a position or objective is critical!”. The town of Gettysburg had no strategic value to General Lee’s plans. But like Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo he still decided to press the attack.

As Brigadier General Hermann Haupt had assisted the Union Army of Virginia and Army of the Potomac in the Northern Virginia Campaign and the Maryland Campaign, he was particularly effective in supporting the Gettysburg Campaign, conducted in an area he knew well from his youth. During the Battle of Gettysburg, General Haupt hastily organized trains which kept the Union Army well supplied, and he organized the returning trains to carry thousands of Union wounded to hospitals. After the battle, Haupt boarded one of his trains and arrived at the White House on July 6, 1863, being the first to inform President Lincoln that General Lee’s defeated army was not being pursued vigorously by Union Major General Meade.

As Napoleon knew the Prussian Army was closing in on his army to re-enforce the Duke of Wellington and the British, General Robert E. Lee knew General George G. Meade and the Army of the Potomac was being resupplied with troops, weapons, and munitions from the railroad yards in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Map of The Battle of Gettysburg Map on July 3, 1863

Without full control of Culp’s Hill, General Robert E Lee was forced to change his plans. General Lee ordered Lieutenant General James Longstreet to mount a major offensive against Major General George G. Meade’s Union positions on Cemetery Ridge on July 3, 1863, the last day of the Battle of Gettysburg. Its futility was questioned by the General James Longstreet, and was arguably an avoidable mistake from which the Southern war effort never fully recovered psychologically. Historians have questioned if Lieutenant General James Longstreet had the resolve to personally issue the fateful orders to Major General George Edward Pickett to have his Virginia division, of First Corps, plus six brigades from Lieutenant General Ambrose Powell Hill‘s Corps, attack the Union II Corps position at the right center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge.

Prior to the attack, all the artillery the Confederacy could bring to bear on the Union positions was used to bombard and weaken the Union’s center of its defensive line. Around 1 p.m., from 150 to 170 Confederate guns began an artillery bombardment that was probably the largest of the war. In order to save valuable ammunition for the infantry attack that they knew would follow, the Union Army of the Potomac’s artillery, under the command of Brigadier General Henry Jackson Hunt, at first did not return the enemy’s fire. After waiting about 15 minutes, approximately 80 Union cannons returned fire. The Confederate Army of Northern Virginia was critically low on artillery ammunition, and their cannonade barrage did not significantly affect the Union defensive positions.

Around 3 p.m., the cannon fire subsided, and 12,500 Confederate soldiers stepped from the ridgeline and advanced the three-quarters of a mile to Cemetery Ridge in what is known to history as “Pickett’s Charge”. As the Confederates approached, there was fierce flanking artillery fire from Union artillery positions on Cemetery Hill and north of Little Round Top, and rifled musket and canon canister fire from Major General Hancock‘s II Corps. In the Union center, the commander of artillery had held fire during the Confederate bombardment, leading Confederate commanders to believe the Union cannon batteries had been knocked out. However, they opened fire on the Confederate infantry during their approach with devastating results using canister grapeshot munitions. Nearly one half of the Confederate attackers did not return to their own lines. Although the Union line wavered and broke temporarily at a jog called the “Angle” in a low stone fence, just north of a patch of vegetation called the Copse of Trees, Union reinforcements rushed into the breach, and the Confederate attack was repulsed. The farthest advance of Brigadier General Lewis A. Armistead‘s brigade of Major General George Pickett’s division at the Angle is referred to as the “High-water mark of the Confederacy”, arguably representing the closest the Confederacy ever came to its goal of achieving independence from the Union via military victory.

Gettysburg Map of Union and Confederate Positions and Calvary Engagements

There were two significant cavalry engagements on July 3. Major General James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuartwas sent to guard the Confederate left flank and was to be prepared to exploit any success the infantry might achieve on Cemetery Hill by flanking the Union right and hitting their train railways and lines of communications. Three miles east of Gettysburg, in what is now called “East Cavalry Field”, Major General Jeb Stuart’s forces collided with Union cavalry: Brigadier General David McMurtrie Gregg’s division and Brigadier General George Armstrong Custer‘s brigade. A lengthy mounted battle, including hand-to-hand sabre combat, ensued. General Custer’s charge, leading the 1st Michigan Cavalry, blunted the attack by Lieutenant General Wade Hampton‘s brigade, blocking Major General Jeb Stuart from achieving his objectives in the Union rear.

After hearing news of the day’s victory, Union Brigadier General Hugh Judson Kilpatrick launched a cavalry attack against the infantry positions of Lieutenant General Longstreet’s Corps southwest of Big Round Top. Ordered to hold his position on the lower earthen works of Big Round Top, Union Brigadier General Elon J. Farnsworth protested against the futility of such a move but obeyed his orders. Farnsworth was killed in the attack, and his brigade suffered significant losses.

Aftermath

General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia’s Withdrawal – July 5-14, 1863

Map of The Battle of Gettysburg Confederate Retreat – July 5-14, 1863

General Lee started his Army of Northern Virginia in motion late the evening of July 4 towards Fairfield and Chambersburg. Cavalry under Brigadier General John D. Imboden was entrusted to escort the miles-long wagon train of supplies and wounded men that General Lee wanted to take back to Virginia with him, using the route through Cashtown and Hagerstown to Williamsport, Maryland. General Meade’s Army of the Potomac followed, although the pursuit was not pursued with any great fervor as the Union forces were exhausted. The recently rain-swollen Potomac trapped General Lee’s army on the north bank of the river for a time, but when the Union forces finally caught up, the Confederates had forded the river. The rear-guard action at Falling Waters on July 14 added some more names to the long casualty lists, including General Pettigrew, who was mortally wounded.

Turning Point of the War

It is argued by historians as to whether The Battle of Gettysburg was a decisive victory for the Union forces. Up until Gettysburg the Confederate States of America was winning the Confederate States of America’s War of Succession. If Gettysburg is not considered a decisive victory it most certainly should be considered the turning point of the Civil War.

The American Civil War, as it became known, lasted two more years. The Confederacy never again held the advantage. But the remainder of the war grew brutal and ever so more personal then it had been prior to and during its first two years. Even today the slogan “The Confederacy will rise again!” rings out in many of the original states of the Confederate States of America.

General George G. Meade – Commander of the Army of the Potomac

General George Meade remained Commander of the Army of the Potomac until March 1864. President Abraham Lincoln appointed Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant Commander of all Union armies in his stead.

President Abraham Lincoln never forgave General George Meade for not destroying the Army of Northern Virginia and allowing General Robert E. Lee to escape with his army across the Potomac River into Virginia causing the American Civil War to continue for another two years. General Robert E. Lee’s withdrawal began on July 5 of 1863 and took till July 14 to complete.

On January 31, 1865, General Robert E. Lee was promoted to general-in-chief of Confederate forces.

This was a desperate act by Confederate President Jefferson Davis to bolster the moral of the Confederate Troops as Union Major General William Tecumseh Sherman, under orders from General Ulysses S. Grant, ripped through the Southern Confederacy destroying and burning everything in his path in particular the total destruction of Atlanta, Georgia by razing and burning the city to the ground on September 2, 1864 and culminating with his “March to the Sea” and taking the strategic port city of Savannah, Georgia on November 16, 1864 and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21, 1864; when on December 13, William B. Hazen’s division of General Oliver Otis Howard‘s army stormed Fort McAllister, guarding the Ogeechee River, south of Savannah, in the Battle of Fort McAllister and captured it within 15 minutes. With the taking of the Port of Savannah, the Union Fleet was able to resupply, re-equip, and reinforce Major General Sherman’s army.

Most historian’s, (probably from the North), downplay the total destruction of Atlanta, Georgia, as only the destruction of approximately 30% of the city. However, it is more likely that the firestorm that ensued in Atlanta could have destroyed as much as 65% of the city. This would have severally crippled the remaining 35%, and most certainly ruined the Confederacy’s principal source of supplies to the Armies of the Confederacy. Atlanta, Georgia was comparable to the Union’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania as the major lynch-pin to the logistical support of their armies.

General Sherman then set into motion the plans of General Ulysses S. Grant to trap Richmond Virginia and General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia in a pincer maneuver.

General Lee’s army, thinned by desertion and casualties, was now much smaller than General Grant’s. Union forces won a decisive victory at the Battle of Five Forks on April 1, 1865 forcing Lee to evacuate Petersburg and Richmond.

With an Army of 60,000 Union infantry and cavalry, General Sherman would have to move north towards Richmond, Virginia, through South Carolina and North Carolina. General Sherman was particularly interested in targeting South Carolina, the first state to secede from the Union, because of the effect that it would have on Southern morale. Upon taking the capital city of Columbia, South Carolina, General Sherman’s troops, without orders from General Sherman, put the capital city to the torch burning it to the ground. General Sherman proceeded through central South Carolina cutting a swath of destruction to all war and economic facilities and materials in the state.

Upon reaching North Carolina, General Sherman ordered his troops to exercise restraint, as North Carolina had shown serious reservations about seceding from the Union by a voting to secede by a narrow majority. General Sherman’s army met surprised resistance from Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston, under orders from General Robert E. Lee, to stop the advance of General Sherman’s Union Army. With only 22,000 infantry and cavalry, on March 19, 1865, General Johnston was able to catch the left-wing of General Sherman’s army by surprise at the Battle of Bentonville and briefly gained some tactical successes before superior numbers forced him to retreat to Raleigh, North Carolina. Unable to secure the capital, General Johnston’s army withdrew to Greensboro.

Surrender

The Confederacy never recovered from the Battle of Gettysburg and slowly deteriorated till its surrender by General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865 to Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, General of the Army of the Union, at the McLean House in the village of Appomattox Court House. Once General Sherman’s Army reached the East Coast and established contact with the Union Fleet. Union victory appeared certain, and Lincoln resolved to attempt a negotiated end to the war with the Confederates.

He enlisted Francis Preston Blair to carry a message to Jefferson Davis. President Davis appointed three Commissioners, who were sent to Grant to arrange a peace conference. Meanwhile, Lincoln sent Secretary of State Seward and his emissary Major Thomas T. Eckert to Hampton Roads to facilitate a meeting. Eckert met with the Confederate Commissioners and insisted that they acknowledge that “one common country” was to be the subject of the conference. This brought matters to a halt; General Grant contacted President Lincoln directly and he agreed to personally meet with the Commissioners at Fort Monroe. Though Grant was pivotal in arranging the peace conference, it ultimately yielded no results; but Grant had demonstrated a remarkable willingness and ability to assume a diplomatic role beyond his normal military posture.

After learning of General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House on April 9, General Johnston agreed to meet with General Sherman between the lines at a small farm known as Bennett Place near present day Durham, North Carolina. After three separate days (April 17, 18, and 26, 1865) of negotiations, Johnston surrendered the Army of Tennessee and all remaining Confederate forces still active in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. It was the largest surrender of the war, totaling 89,270 soldiers.General Robert E. Lee was arguably the greatest military mind to graduate from The United States Military Academy at West Point. He was a top graduate of the Academy graduating second in his class of 1829.

After General Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox he faded from history. Yet his rival Ulysses S. Grant became the 18th President of the United States. Ulysses S. Grant graduated 21st in his class from The United States Military Academy at West Point in 1843.

While General Robert E. Lee was always regarded as an officer and gentleman of the highest honor, Ulysses S. Grant’s Presidential Administration was one of the most corrupt in United States history.

Confederate President Jefferson Davis

Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his wife were captured on May 10, 1865, at Irwinville in Irwin County, Georgia. On May 19, 1865, Davis was imprisoned in a casemate at Fortress Monroe, on the coast of Virginia. He was placed in irons for three days. Jefferson Davis was indicted for treason a year later. After two years of imprisonment, Davis was released on bail of $100,000, which was posted by prominent citizens of both Northern and Southern states, including Horace Greeley, Cornelius Vanderbilt and Gerrit Smith. Jefferson Davis visited Canada, Cuba and Europe in search of work. In December 1868 the court rejected a motion to nullify the indictment, but the prosecution dropped the case in February 1869. Falling into obscurity, Jefferson Davis completed A Short History of the Confederate States of America in October 1889. He died at age 81 at 12:45 AM on Friday, December 6, 1889, in the presence of several friends and with his hand in his wife Varina’s.

President Abraham Lincoln

After being in a coma for nine hours, President Abraham Lincoln died at 7:22 am on April 15 1865, after John Wilkes Booth crept up from behind and at about 10:13 pm, aimed a derringer at the back of the President’s head and fired at point-blank range, mortally wounding the President while he and his wife attended a play “Our American Cousin” at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. on April 14.

John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth, believed to be a member of “The Knights of the Golden Circle”, was finally trapped and fatally wounded in the neck, by Union troops, and was dragged from the barn to the porch of the Richard H. Garrett’s farm, just south of Port Royal, Caroline County, Virginia, where he died three hours later, on April 24, 1865, at the age of 26. The bullet had pierced three vertebrae and partially severed his spinal cord, paralyzing him. In his dying moments, he reportedly whispered, “Tell my mother I died for my country”.

John Wilkes Booth was not readily forgotten. Frank and Jesse James, of the famed “James and Younger Gang”, continued to fight a guerrilla war against the Federal Government for several years as members of “The Knights of the Golden Circle” by robbing banks and payroll shipments owned by Northern Carpetbaggers and Railroad Robber Barons to provide capital for the rising of a new Confederacy. There efforts to the call that “The South Shall Rise Again!” ended in failure.

Today

Many secret and secretive organizations still exist today in an attempt to reform the Confederate States of America – CSA. Some of these organizations are:

The Order of the Knights of the Golden Circle – also known of the KGC

The Ku Klux Klan – also known as the KKK

The Church of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

The Knights of the White Camelia

The Invisible Empire

The Nine Nations of North America

Casualties of The Battle of Gettysburg

How Many People Died In The Battle Of Gettysburg?

The two armies suffered between 46,000 and 51,000 casualties at the Battle of Gettysburg. Union casualties were 23,055 (3,155 killed, 14,531 wounded, 5,369 captured or missing), while Confederate casualties are more difficult to estimate. Many authors have referred to as many as 28,000 Confederate casualties, but Busey and Martin’s more recent definitive 2005 work, “Regimental Strengths and Losses”, documents 23,231 (4,708 killed, 12,693 wounded, 5,830 captured or missing). Nearly a third of General Robert E. Lee’s general officers were killed, wounded, or captured. The casualties for both sides during the entire campaign were 57,225.

The total number of Union and Confederate forces officially killed at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania probably exceeded 8,000 dead. If the count of those missing in action, (Union missing 5369 and Confederate missing 5827), could represent as many as were captured for a total of 11,196). Since most prisoners of war perished in prison camps both North and South it could be concluded that the total number of forces which died because of The Battle of Gettysburg could have easily exceeded 14,000.

The Battle of Gettysburg was the single most bloody battle of the American Civil War. This battle which occurred from the July 1-3, 1863 in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania resulted in 51,000 casualties of which 28,000 were Confederate soldiers. Even though the Union was considered the winner of the battle the war continued for two more years.

The Battle of Gettysburg was the single most bloodiest battle ever recorded on American soil.

The following tables summarize casualties by corps for the Union and Confederate forces during the three day battle.

Union Losses

Union Corps

Casualties (k/w/m)

I Corps

6059 (666/3231/2162)

II Corps

4369 (797/3194/378)

III Corps

4211 (593/3029/589)

V Corps

2187 (365/1611/211)

VI Corps

242 (27/185/30)

XI Corps

3807 (369/1924/1514)

XII Corps

1082 (204/812/66)

Cavalry Corps

852 (91/354/407)

Artillery Reserve

242 (43/187/12)

Confederate Losses

Confederate Corps

Casualties (k/w/m)

First Corps

7665 (1617/4205/1843)

Second Corps

6686 (1301/3629/1756)

Third Corps

8495 (1724/4683/2088)

Cavalry Corps

380 (66/174/140)

]]>https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/the-battle-of-gettysburg-july-1-3-of-1863/feed/0stevenddeaconBattle of Gettysburg by Currier and IvesMap of The Battle Field Of Gettysburg 1863Map of Battle of Gettysburg Map - July 1, 1863Map of The Battle of Gettysburg on July 2, 1863Map of The Battle of Gettysburg for Left Flank Union Army on July 2, 1863Painting of Bayonet Charge of the Union's 20th Maine from Little Round Top at the Battle of GettysburgThe Battle of Gettysburg July 2, 1863 - Union breastworks Culp Hill on Right FlankPainting of The Battle of Gettysburg July 3, 1863 by Currier and IvesMap of The Battle of Gettysburg Map on July 3, 1863Painting of Battle of Gettysburg July 3, 1863 - Pickett's ChargeGettysburg Map of Union and Confederate Positions and Calvary EngagementsMap of The Battle of Gettysburg Confederate Retreat - July 5-14, 1863How Many People Died In The Battle Of Gettysburg?Nearing the Anniversary of “The Battle of Gettysburg” a few Notes Regarding Sun Tzuhttps://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/nearing-the-anniversary-of-battle-of-gettysburg-a-few-notes-regarding-sun-tzu/
https://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/2012/05/05/nearing-the-anniversary-of-battle-of-gettysburg-a-few-notes-regarding-sun-tzu/#respondSun, 06 May 2012 00:06:34 +0000http://stevenddeacon.wordpress.com/?p=373As we near the 149th Anniversary of the bloodiest battle ever fought in the Western Hemisphere I would like to present an updated summary of Mark McNeilly’s publication entitled “Sun Tzu and The Art of War” six principles from the art of modern warfare found @

Mr. McNeilly’s publication “Sun Tzu and The Art of War” was published by Oxford University PressISBN-10: 0195161084 or ISBN-13: 978-0195161083.

This summary will act as an introduction of Sun Tzu’s writing entitled “The Art of War”, written nearly two thousand five hundred years ago, it provides valuable insights into the reasons why the greatest American General ever to graduate from West Point, Robert E Lee, was defeated at Gettysburg.

This posting will provide an introduction to my subsequent posting on “The Battle of Gettysburg” on June 1-3 1863.

McNeilly’s six principles are:

1. Win All Without Fighting: Achieving the Objective Without Destroying It

2. Avoid Strength, AttackWeakness: Striking Where the Enemy is Most Vulnerable

The first principle, Win All Without Fighting: Achieving the Objective Without Destroying It, discusses the goal of strategy (covered in Chapter 1). Many city-states, countries, and empires have been built by leaders who leveraged their nation’s unique history, geography, and assets to control that state’s environment and sphere of influence. Thus, these leaders were able to ensure their states’ ability to survive, become stable, expand, dominate their neighbors, and ultimately prosper for hundreds of years.

The goal of all these empires has been, like a living organism, to first survive, then to prosper. Today that goal remains for all countries, first to survive as an entity, and then to become prosperous.

If the goal of a country is to survive and prosper, then what is the goal of its strategy? Sun Tzu offers this advice:

Your aim must be to take All-under-Heaven intact. Thus your troops are not worn out and your gains will be complete. This is the art of offensive strategy.

The second principle is an important tenet of this philosophy: avoid strength, attack weakness. This principle discusses how to win All-under-Heaven intact.

Now an army may be likened to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.

Although many generals prefer to attack each other head-on, this approach is very costly. As discussed earlier, wars of attrition can last for months and even years, leaving both sides in a weakened state. Instead, using the method of avoiding strength and attacking weakness maximizes one’s gains while minimizing the use of the nation’s resources. This, by definition, increases prosperity.

This principle is discussed in detail in Chapter 2, Avoid Strength, Attack Weakness: Striking Where The Enemy Is Most Vulnerable.

To find and exploit an enemy’s weakness requires a deep understanding of their leaders’ strategy, capabilities, thoughts, and desires and a similar depth of knowledge of one’s own strengths and weaknesses. It is critical to study the minds of the opposing generals and understand how they will react to one’s moves. It is also important to understand the environment and terrain which will be contested.

Therefore I say, “Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.”

It also demands a corresponding masking of one’s plans.

All warfare is based on deception.

Chapter 3, Deception and Foreknowledge: Winning the Information War, sheds light on these topics. To fully utilize deception and foreknowledge effectively, it is critical to be able to act with blinding speed.

Speed is the essence of war. Take advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness; travel by unexpected routes and strike him where he has taken no precautions.

To move with such speed does not mean to do things hastily. In reality, speed requires much preparation: mastering the art of logistics. Reducing the time it takes to make decisions, develop new weapons, implement strategies for equipping and supplying troops to respond to the enemy’s moves is crucial. To think through and understand the opponent’s reaction to one’s possible moves also is essential.

To rely on rustics (antiquated equipment and weapons) and not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of Virtues.

Chapter 4, Speed and Preparation: Moving Swiftly To Overcome Resistance expands on these topics. Putting all these factors into play successfully does not occur naturally. One must be able to “shape” the enemy.

Therefore those skilled in war bring the enemy to the field of battle and are not brought there by him.

Shaping the enemy means changing the rules of the contest and making one’s opponent conform to one’s desires and actions. It means taking control of the situation away from the enemy and putting it into one’s own hands. One way of shaping the enemy is by the skillful use of alliances. By building a strong web of alliances, the moves of the opponent can be limited. Also, by eliminating one’s enemies’ alliances, one can weaken the enemy.

Look into the matter of his alliances and cause them to be severed and dissolved. If an enemy has alliances, the problem is grave and the enemy’s position strong; if he has no alliances the problem is minor and the enemy’s position weak.

Chapter 5, Shape The Enemy: Preparing the Battlefield, tells more about this subject.

By keeping plans and strategy closely held and using tactics to deceive the enemy about one’s true intentions, one can continue to shape them by employing direct and indirect approaches.

He who knows the art of the direct; (Cheng) and the indirect (Ch’I or Qi) approach will be victorious.

A direct attack is one that occurs in an expected place at an expected time (a battle of attrition). An indirect assault is one that comes as a surprise, both in location and timing. By combining direct attacks on the enemy to fix their leaders’ attention and deceive them, one can then use indirect attacks to win complete victory. By utilizing the indirect and direct approaches and skillfully crafting alliances the opponent can be put on the defensive and made more vulnerable to future attacks.

Chapter 6, Character-based Leadership: Leading by Example.

To achieve everything discussed so far takes a special kind of leader; one who can see the correct course of action and take it immediately, who can relate to the military forces, other civilian leaders and the population and gain commitment, who can empower subordinates to carry out the nation’s strategy and who can use all personnel wisely.

You are not only being outsourced by your country, if Big Brother (the NSA) isn’t watching you now they soon will be. As the FBI issues Request for Proposals for software to spy on Social Media web sites, the NSA plans on spying on the world using all electronic media, both nationally and internationally, at their disposal.

This is in addition to the NSA‘s high resolution satellite video, audio, and electronic surveillance. The NSA and other U.S. Government Agencies, (including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Fire Arms, & Explosives (BATFE or commonly known as the ATF), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the United States Secret Service, the United States Marshals Service, National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the National Security Council (NSC)), are using aerial surveillance drones of every make and model, both military and private industrial, in conjunction with State, County, and Municipal Law Enforcement assets to spy on United States private citizens without due process of law as specified in the United States Constitution.

As a member of the US Department of Defense the NSA has no legal right to spy on US citizens. NSA national and international surveillance will be expanded with the building and implementation of this new ultra-modern and expansive data center. The NSA will conduct their surveillance without accountability to the Department of Homeland Security nor does it seem that the Department of Justice will interfere with NSA operations.

With the building of the new NSA super data center facility they will be able to tap into all other United States Federal, State, Territorial, County, and Municipal surveillance technology to coordinate their Orwellian Policy. They will also be able to tap into foreign intelligence and law enforcement assets.

As a member of the U.S. Department of Defense the NSA has no legal right to spy on US citizens. NSA national and international surveillance will be expanded with the building and implementation of this new ultra-modern and expansive data center. NSA surveillance without accountability to the Department of Homeland Security or the Department of Justice.

The National Security Council, (made up of the President and Vice President of the United States, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Pentagon’s Joint Chief of Staff, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Director of National Intelligence (DNI). and the National Security Advisor), will wield totalitarian power over all citizens of the United States.

With no oversight, (or obviously insight) provided for the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justicethere will be an attempt on their respective parts to acquire intelligence from the NSA to supplement their own means of gathering domestic intelligence on anti-american agents, activists, and parties, both domestic and foreign, and of their activities to do harm to the security of our nation. The Department of Homeland Security is actively involved in equipping their agencies with the latest technologies available for gathering this intelligence. One such resource available to DHS is its own U.S. Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) Student & Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) Database. DHS‘s Federal Bureau of Investigation plans on spying on Social Media web sites and their subscribers. This will add to their already growing number of Cyber-Space Surveillance Technologies currently implemented and planned for implementation.

More on the Department of Homeland Security’s Citizenship and Immigration Services(USCIS) and the use of its Student & Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) Database to spy on naturalized U.S. Citizens and foreign worker, traveler, business, and student U.S. Visa holders in the United States in the next post.